It is difficult to worry about our day-to-day problems when someone is trying to choke us unconscious or punch us in the face. Aside from simply learning how to fight or defend ourselves, there are many psychological, physical, and emotional benefits to be found in sparring based martial arts, martial arts wherein practitioners regularly pressure…
The Mouse And The Trap (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
Do not chase your opponents into their game. The longer we practice jiu-jitsu, the more we develop our own uniquely personal technical-style, strategies, and tactics. While this is happening, however, our training partners are also working on improving and developing their own personal styles as well, their own games, so to speak. Like us, they,…
On Non-Resistance (A Jiu-Jitsu Lesson)
Long-lasting solutions begin with empathy, not animosity. If we want to make a change in our lives, we will inevitably come up against resistance. Instead of perceiving this resistance as a negative thing, we should embrace it for the lessons it offers. Resistance forces us to know ourselves, our desires, our capabilities, and to adjust…
Martial Arts And The Freedom To Choose
As long as we have choice, we have hope. One of the most powerful lessons martial arts teach us is that very difficult, seemingly insurmountable problems can be solved by applying the right combination of posture, balance, angles, and leverage. What at first feels like a hopeless challenge becomes less and less so the more…
The Martial Way
We must not forget why we started training martial arts and why we decided to stay. It is difficult to explain to people who do not know, just how important martial arts are to the lives of the people who practice them. For many practitioners, martial arts saved us from ourselves. They saved us from…